Work has begun on the construction of a railway line between the Turkish city of Kars and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, within the framework of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) project.
“We consider Kars a logistics center, the work on which construction is underway,” said the Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Erkan Ozoral. “It’s difficult to say at what stage the work is now, but most likely it will be completed in the next two years. Now we are working on the continuation of the BTK project.”
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, he noted, is a link between Turkey and Europe.
“Presently, cargo transportation is carried out via BTK from Kazakhstan to the port of Mersin. Some cargo is shipped from Russia to Turkey and Europe. It is difficult to say how much cargo there will be in the future, but one thing I can say is that the full potential will be used.”
The opening of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway was held on October 30, 2017, at the Baku International Sea Trade Port.
The BTK railway is built on the basis of an Azerbaijani-Georgian-Turkish interstate agreement. At the initial stage, the volume of freight will be at the level of 6.5 million tons, and up to one million passengers will be transported.
By Dimitri Dolaberidze
Image source: azernews.az